:: Across the board ::

This section contains news and analysis of sweeping developments that affect the overall push and pull towards FTAs and bilateral investment treaties. This means major trends relating to bilateralism, often with global consequences, and other cross-cutting issues. New developments arising from US politics, the WTO or South-South alliance-building, for instance, are often reported here as they tend to have systemic impacts.

last update: May 2012

17 April 2015: International Day of Peasant and Farmer Struggle against Transnational Companies and Free Trade Agreements

30-Mar-2015 La Via Campesina

This April 17th 2015, La Via Campesina will focus its mobilizations on the impacts of Transnational Corporations and Free Trade Agreements on peasant and small-scale agriculture and national food sovereignty

LatAm states look to trade in bilateral deals for regional agreements

28-Mar-2015 Emerging Markets

Latin American countries are increasingly looking at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as forming the foundation of a broader free trade area of Asia Pacific linking the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Push against investment rules in US trade deals picks up

12-Mar-2015 Reuters

Law professors from across the United States urged lawmakers to keep rules to protect foreign investors out of trade pacts on Wednesday, warning they would give big companies too much power.

Unions to fight trade pact by freezing political donations

11-Mar-2015 Wall Street Journal

Dozens of major labor unions plan to freeze campaign contributions to members of Congress to pressure them to oppose fast-track trade legislation sought by President Barack Obama , according to labor officials.

TTIP and the push for a new global economic order

4-Mar-2015

A lot of protest has arisen against the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in recent times, and rightly so. For those who take a good look at the available negotiating documents realize that it is about a lot more than granting Access to our markets for chlorine chickens and hormone-infested beef, or the abolition of our committees for Security and Hygiene in the work environment. This is about something bigger. It’s about the continuation and the imposition of the neoliberal agenda. It is about laying the bricks for a hegemonic worldview for the coming decennia.

European trade policy at an impasse

4-Mar-2015 DIE

With all eyes on TTIP, we are losing sight of the real challenges for Europe emerging in the Asia-Pacific economic region, argues Axel Berger

Lawmakers grapple with ‘fast track’ trade bill

25-Feb-2015 WSJ

US congressional leaders crafting the so-called fast-track bill, meant to expedite passage of trade deals, want to include sweeteners to attract skeptical Democrats, including rules to allow lawmakers greater access to details of ongoing trade negotiations.

Obama begins sales pitch on trade to wary US public

22-Feb-2015 Reuters

President Barack Obama on Saturday began a broad sales pitch to the US public about the merits of free trade deals, an area in which he faces stiff resistance from many in his own Democratic party.

Corporate coup d’état: Those crappy trade deals

18-Feb-2015 Counter Punch

The corporate media would prefer that people know nothing about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and other trade deals.

TPP and TTIP: Partners in crime

23-Jan-2015 Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung

Mike Dolan, Vice-President of the Citizens’ Trade Campaign, takes stock of the resistance against both TPP and TTIP in the United States and outlines the strategy we need if we want to prevent the passage of “trade” agreements that threaten to kill jobs, undermine labor standards and environmental regulations, limit access to generic drugs, and even aim to exempt corporations from the judicial process.

:: Across the board ::

Referenced sites

21st Century Trade Agreements: Implications for Long-Run Development Policy

#A18DoA - Global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties

Alianza Social Continental

ICC

Movimientos.org

Pambazuka

People over profit

Peoples Global Action

Regional/Multilateral Integration Agreements

SOMO

South Centre

Stop fast track!

ISDS Case Map